Conventional mats used when crossing a deep wet area need to be piled up as many 8 or 12 inch thick crane mats to fill the void below the wet area or water until the mats get to a desired height, above the water or wet area. Next, a final layer disposed above the water needs to be added to create a work platform or roadway.
Conventional mats also have problems with the mats moving due to tidal surge or rising waters, for example. Also, when it is time to remove these mats there may be challenges, such as, the mats may be hard to retrieve from the bottom being submerged in water. A user may need to “fish” for the mats with heavy tools or equipment, such as a track hoe excavator which may damage the soil on the bottom. Further, given these difficulties, the mats may end up being left and never retrieved which may not be desirable in environmentally sensitive areas.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a stackable mat that is stable in deep water by allowing for water flow-through, can easily be retrieved from water areas and requires fewer stacked mats, thus creating faster assembly, and is heavy enough to stay in position when placed.